The Story of Washing

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 39, 11 April 1930, Page 33

The Story of Washing

How the Modern Machine Evolved

‘THE desirability that raiment, if not new, should at least be clean, seems to be of very little later date than that of Mother Hve herself, at whose door we lay so many evils. In Mosaic days laws were given that after certain oceupations, soiling alike to clothing and ideas, such as the killing of cattle, both raiment and bodies should be cleansed ; and it becomes easy to trace the source of the proverb that "cleanliness is next to ghdliness." In some cases, cleanliness becomes apparent as the result of godliness, as with the conversion of Savages, and in others, cleanliness remains apparent,’ when, perhaps, godliness has become obscured. A state of savagedom is known to ‘exist where there is neither cleanliness nor godliness, and as with the case of the hen and the egg, it is difficult sometimes to know which came first. Certain we are, however, that when they come they do so practically together, the love of God and the love of cleanliness. The Heavy Toll of Washing. HE early settlers of this country, we are told, found its people, the Maoris, practising cleanliness, washing both their household linen, what they ‘had of it, and their clothing in running streams and pools. This also is the method still practised by natives of other’ countries, and very well indeed is the washing done, the dirt being either beaten out against the stones by hand, or trodden out by the feet, but at what cost of labour? At what cost those same early settlers pursued the cult of cleanliness for themselves, their families, and their households is told only too sadly in the tale of womenfolk not only grown old before their time, but of lives unnecessarily sacrificed before the fetish of the wash-tub. We dare swear, that whatever else occurred, and even if the mother of the family remained at home, few of the children ventured forth on high-days and holidays wearing anything but the cleanest of clothes, and those probably highly starched into the bargain-but again at how much cost to the mother in loss of health and sacrifice, of leisure! ERP is a translation describing a simple washing day of the earliest age... It is in contrast to the clothes washing day of the Victorian era, now haply receding from us with the incor- poration of electrical energy and mechanical "do it in no time." However, haviag to tell how Odysseus, shipwrecked and far-spent with swimming,. wins to shore and drags himself, naked, to hide in the bushes just as Nausicaa-the king’s daughter of the country-drives down to the beach with her maidens to wash the court linen in a stream close by, he teps the business thus: Then ‘they took the clothes from the waggon, and carrying them to the dark water, trod them in pits briskly, in alry. a after they had washed and cleansed away all the stains, they

spread everything out in order on the foreshore, even where the sea, beating the coast, had washed the pebbles clean. Then ... they ate their mid-day meal on the river bank, waiting till the clothes should dry in the sun's rays. And anon, having finished their meal, the maidens and the princess, they fell to playing at ball...and among them white-armed Nausicaa sang the song which led the game. It is doubtful whether up to sixty or seventy years ago, they even had the advantage of soap, and certainly not as we know soap to-day, with its attend ant myrmidons of soap flakes, powders, etc. Probably the first form of watersoftener that was used was lye, and afterwards home-made soap, at first, necessarily, of a crude quality. When the Copper Came. ELL, other times, other ways, and so came the means of obtaining hot water, the copper which must have seemed quite ideal to those early settlers, then the mangle and _ the wringer, but still, in spite of all, real heavy hard work for the woman already overdone with other duties, both indoors and outdoors, and groaning to think of the indoor work neglected, or not,done as she would have it. No mother ever shirked motherhood because of the extra labour it involved, but it is well recognised that mothers require saving from themselves, where service to their children is being considered. Necessity was always the mother of invention, and so far back as 1845, nearly 100 years ago, we find the idea of a machine to accomplish the dreaded business of washing-day being developed, but, of course, in a crude fashion. From that, the Lancashire dollies evolved. IHEfficient and inspiring they were, but: still dependent upon hand-power. Hand-power — only a mild word for the ensuing ache of shoulders, back and limbs that follows the old-fashioned washing-day, that has made invalids of otherwise capable women.

What Eleciricity Can Do. N this country to-day there is no excuse for such waste of life and energy. Electricity is here, and elec-trically-operated washing machines, from the size designed to handle only smaller pieces, and which takes up almost no room, to the larger ones which take care of the family laundry with ease and speed. They are all very simple to operate, and many are now equipped with extension legs, which allow adjustment to the required height. They are constructed after intelligent study of the needs of the home, and not only is construction studied, but design and colour are given due attention. Ease in operation and in cleaning are two of the main factors considered. There has, perhaps, been a tendency in the past for some women to look upon electricity as a mysterious power almost beyond their comprehension, with which they have been diffident of

acquainting themselves, but electric washing machines are sent out with such definite instructions, the mechanism so simple, requiring hardly more than that the operator should know how to start and stop the machine, that it is a truism to say that a child ean do it. There are diverse types, to suit all ideas-some with, some without wringer attachments; some operating on the principle of agitation, the clothes being lifted rapidly but gently up and down through the hot suds; others spin the clothes rapidly through the water, and will also spin entirely or partially dry. Special care is taken in every instance to avoid damage to the articles being laundered, so that no fear need be entertained on that score. Nor need lack of finance prove an obstacle to the possession of one of these household boons. In most cases, a small initial payment is all that is

required, with subsequent monthly pays ments sO small that they need hardly be taken into account, and which are certainly more than adequately covered by the ensuing saving of time and labour. The present is the time, before the short days of winter are upon us, for every woman to decide, be she town or country-dweller, rich or poor, the way she will wash her clothes,

How Unnecessary

LONDON boy, being sent to bed by his parents, set the house on fire, If his feet were cold, he need not have proceeded to such extreme measures, had his mother provided him with one of the neat little electric heating pads, .